Ted Simpson
Director & Filmmaker
Ted Simpson is a documentary filmmaker and director specialising in stories from the wild edges.
My work intersects society, nature and the environment, exploring complex topics through emotive human stories.
I am passionate about the power of documentary and nonfiction storytelling, and I’m drawn to nuanced, thought provoking stories that challenge us to think about our place in the natural world.
I specialise in cinematic environmental storytelling, combining emotion with science communication. I am a two time winner of ‘Best Environmental Film’ at the world renowned Banff Mountain Film Festival, for my feature length films, The Eagle With The Sunlit Eye, and The Cull - Scotland’s Deer Dilemma, which was acquired by Disney Plus.
I am based in Cornwall, UK, and I’m available to work worldwide as a freelance director for long and short form documentary, branded storytelling, and independent film projects through my production company, Scout Studio.
Credits
Local Legends Series Mammut & Coldhouse Director
The Pine Hunters Director, Editor
Sky Seeding Woodland Trust & Here Now Films, Director, DOP, Editor
Mountain of Angels Series Mammut & Coldhouse Co-director
Adapt Millimetres2Mountains & Berghaus Director, Editor
We Are Nature Director, Editor
The Eagle With The Sunlit Eye Director, Editor
Winner, Best Environmental Film, Banff Mountain Film Festival 2023, Official Selection, Wildscreen 2024, People’s Choice Award, Kendal Mountain Festival 2023
The Audacious BBC, Director of Photography
Wilding Wallington National Trust, Director, Editor
The Chair Project Co-director, Editor
Nocturne Director, Editor
The Cull - Scotland’s Deer Dilemma Available on Disney Plus Director, Editor
Winner, Best Environmental Film, Banff Mountain Film Festival 2020, Best Environmental Film, Kendal Mountain Festival 2020
Scotland - Our Climate Journey Director, Editor
Films I Admire
The Islands & The Whales - The Imposter - Jago, A Life Underwater - The Territory - The Hermit Of Treig
The Cull - Scotland’s Deer Dilemma
2020 - Feature Documentary - Available on Disney Plus
In the Scottish Highlands, a battle is raging over the future of the land and its largest mammal - red deer.
This film explores the heated debate between landowners, environmentalists, and gamekeepers,
revealing the complex dilemma of how to manage Scotland’s wild spaces.
Now available to stream on Disney Plus.
Winner, Best Environmental Film - Banff Mountain Film & Book Festival, 2020
Winner, Best Environmental Film - Kendal Mountain Festival, 2020
Winner, Best Documentary Feature, Denali Film Festival, 2021
Winner, Best Cinematic Idea, Natourale, 2020
Official Selection, Wild Texas Film Tour 2020
Official Selection, Pakistan International Mountain Film Festival 2020
The Eagle With The Sunlit Eye
2023 - Feature Documentary
We drove it to extinction. We brought it back. Can we learn to look it in the eye?
The White Tailed Eagle is one of the largest birds of prey on the planet. For generations, humans have struck an uneasy relationship with this apex predator.
We persecuted it to extinction in Britain a century ago - and then the 1970s saw this greatest of eagles brought back to our wild edges.
Winner, Best Environmental Film - Banff Mountain Film & Book Festival, 2023
Winner, People’s Choice Award - Kendal Mountain Festival, 2023
Official Selection, Wildscreen 2024
Honourable Mention, Montrose LandxSea Festival 2024
Quarter Finalist, Wildlife Conservation Film Festival 2024
Official Selection, International Wildlife Film Festival 2024
The Pine Hunters
2024 - Short Documentary
Two intrepid ecologists journey to the loneliest Scots Pine in Britain, to record the last of our ancient wild Caledonian forests.
Official Selection, Kendal Mountain Festival 2024
Official Selection, Montrose LandxSea Festival, 2025
Scottish Adventure Film Tour, 2025
